Kaart van Jerusalem 1790

Curator: So, we have Jan van Jagen's "Kaart van Jerusalem," created in 1790 using ink and engraving. It strikes me as incredibly precise and detailed. What do you see here? Editor: It feels almost like an architectural blueprint, but also… artistic. I’m intrigued by how it blends cartography with what appears to be artistic rendering. It looks very intentional. I wonder, how might we approach interpreting this piece? Curator: Let’s consider the materials themselves: ink, paper, the engraving process. Each stage involves labor. How does the act of painstakingly recreating a city change its representation compared to, say, a modern satellite image? We can also think about accessibility - how did prints make knowledge like this accessible in the 18th century? Who could afford them, and who did this knowledge serve? Editor: That's interesting, the production value versus access. The act of hand-engraving is so laborious; it speaks to a different value system surrounding information. Curator: Precisely! And think about the social context: what did owning a map of Jerusalem signify at the time? Was it about religious pilgrimage, political aspiration, or simply intellectual curiosity fuelled by a colonialist world-view? And also about craftsmanship versus utility. Can we consider the engraver an artist in the same way we consider, for example, a painter an artist? What defines artistic creation here? Editor: I hadn’t really considered that! I see the craftsmanship more clearly now, especially regarding this specific social and historical lens. Curator: Reflecting on the labour involved truly underscores how maps transcend being mere geographical tools. They are complex artefacts. Editor: Absolutely. I'm definitely walking away seeing this print and others like it through a different, more material lens now. Thanks!